Spirit to continue with his Church to the end of the World to guide it into all necessary truth and to assist and govern every lively member of Christs body in the knowledge and practice of all that is indispensably required of him God himself hath a singular delight and pleasure in good men as the holy Psalmist tells us Psal cxlvij. II. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him and in them that hope in his mercy and our Saviour assures us that God will condescend to dwell and inhabit with such persons which I conceive cannot be understood in any other sense than that there is a very near intercourse between God and good men that God is always ready to assist and succour them in whatsoever they call upon him for John xiv 23. If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him And then surely being blest with the presence of such a Guest they cannot want any measure of knowledge in the ways of God that is necessary for them To conclude then what remains now but if we desire knowledge and satisfaction in the Religion we profess that we apply our selves to seek it in this way which our Saviour hath prescribed viz. with sincere resolutions and endeavours to do the will of God according to our knowledge This is the onely way whereby true knowledge is to be obtained he that seeks in this way shall not miscarry For if any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self SERM. IV. HEB. xij 1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us IN the former Chapter of this Epistle the Apostle given us a large account of the afflictions and sufferings of those Patriarchs and Prophets and other holy men who lived before the coming of our Saviour and the words I have now read are an inference from their example that we also having before our eyes the glorious things which they did and suffered and calling to mind the mighty power and efficacy of their Faith in overcoming the World and enduring afflictions may from thence be excited to a like vigour and constancy in our Christian profession So that the words contain these two things worthy our consideration An Exhortation and the reason of it The Exhortation in these words Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race which is set before us The reason of the Exhortation in these words Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses I shall begin with the Exhortation There is nothing more usual in holy Scripture than to represent the duty of a Christian under the similitude of such other imployments as carry with them the greatest difficulties and require the most exact care and vigilance in those who undertake them Sometimes we are compared to Soldiers who must be always upon the Guard sometimes to Travellers and Pilgrims who have a long and hazardous journey to make sometimes to those who strive for Masteries in publick Games Now these several sorts of imployments do all presuppose these two things 1. That those who undertake them do propose to themselves some great and considerable end some reward of their labours 2. That there are great difficulties to be passed through great industry and care and watchfulness to be used for the attainment of it The case is not unlike in our Christian Profession We have a glorious prize of our high Calling set before us we have an exceeding great reward a Crown of Glory laid up for us which God the righteous Judge and just Rewarder of those that diligently seek him will not fail to bestow on such as overcome But then we must not expect this Reward and Crown upon any other condition than that we approve our selves as men who have fought the good fight of Faith manfully and couragiously who have strove lawfully and endured to the end The similitude used in the Text is taken from those Trials of Skill those publick Exercises which were used in the Olympick Games Now for those who run in a Race there are three things necessary to be done if they hope to gain the victory in proportion to which the whole duty of a Christian is expressed in this Exhortation 1. They must free themselves from all unnecessary burdens from all their loose garments which may clog or entangle them in their way they must lay away every weight 2. They must be active and vigorous in the course they must run the race set before them 3. They must continue their vigour and courage to the end of the race This I conceive to be meant by running with patience that is with perseverance and continuance in well-doing Now it is easie to apply these several circumstances to our Christian duty and I shall consider each of them 1. It is easie to understand that what is here metaphorically expressed by laying aside every weight is the same with what S. Paul elsewhere teaches us in plain terms and calls the denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts and what our Saviour means by denying our selves The riches honours and pleasures of the World and the love of them which S. John calls the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life are not unfitly compared to so many clogs and weights that press down the soul and are apt to make it dull and unactive and divert it from the ways of holiness and the laying aside these incumbrances the freeing our minds from these affections and desires and from the love of all things else whatsoever nay of our life it self when it stands in competition with our duty is so necessary a preparation for our running the race set before us that without so doing we are not capable of being Christs Disciples Mat. xvj 24. Jesus said unto his Disciples if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me S. Mat. x. 38. He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me Now that the renouncing and forsaking our carnal lusts and desires is most generally to be understood by taking up the cross and denying our selves I conceive evident from hence because it is made a necessary qualification of all that will be Christs Disciples not onely those who suffer persecutions but all that will be Christians must in their proportion deny themselves and take up the Cross These and the like expressions are universal not limited to any time or place or other circumstances but equally belong to all Christians Luke xiv 26. If any man come to me
clear right on his side than any man can now pretend to but was entertained with the greatest contradiction of sinners that can be imagined and if any injury might justly provoke our rage and passion those offered to our Saviour were of the most hainous and provoking nature but yet when he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not he rendered not evil for evil nor railing for railing but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously And now can any man pretend to own the obligation of our Saviours precepts and example and yet contend for the truth of his doctrine with so much bitterness and virulency of speech towards their dissenting brethren as some of our zealous Disputants do in these days S. Jude tells us that Michael the Archangel when he contended with the Devil he durst not bring against him a railing accusation and how then can we presume to do it in our Religious debates with our Christian brethren who for ought we know notwithstanding our misconceptions of them may be in truth the children of God though fallen into errour In a word to conclude this particular he that would learn must be willing to be contradicted and hear with patience what may be said be it never so opposite to his former notions or to his present wishes Otherwise he will be hardly capable to judge aright Again he that would instruct and convince others must do it also with calmness of spirit confuting errour with all the clearness and perspicuity he is able but sparing the persons he endeavours to reform For if by reproach and contumely he provoke their passion whom he should instruct he destroys the force of all his reasoning by discomposing those faculties which should judge of it 5. The fifth point of duty which I proposed to speak of as having great influence upon our understanding and receiving the Gospel is Prayer to God This is a duty of natural obligation as may appear by the many precepts of ancient Philosophers concerning it Pythagoras in particular advises to undertake no work to endeavour nothing without imploring the divine assistance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This he subjoins to many other precepts of Vertue as the complement and perfection of them And surely if the imploring the divine assistance is necessary in all our concerns it is principally to be regarded in our search of divine Truth For to whom shoud we seek for knowledg but to him who is the Fountain of Truth the Father of Lights from whom every good and perfect gift comes And the same Philosopher immediately after his precepts of Vertue and his direction to pray to God to bless and perfect our endeavours he adds this as the first and principal benefit that would redound to us thereby that we should by so doing gain the knowledge both of the divine and humane nature which is not much different from what I have hitherto endeavoured to prove viz. that the practice of Vertue hath in it self a natural efficacy to clear the understanding and make it capable of divine knowledge and surely if Philosophers by the force of natural principles understood the necessity we had of the divine assistance in all our endeavours and that Prayer was the means by which it was to be sought we who have received better means of instruction than they had cannot be ignorant of this point of duty especially the doctrine of the Gospel being so full of precepts of this kind requiring us to pray to God in all our exigencies and assuring us of success by so doing if we be not wanting to our selves Thus particularly Luke xi 9. our Saviour advises us Ask and it shall be given you And then follows v. 13. If ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him And S. James yet more nearly to our present purpose directs us to make our humble addresses to God in order to the attainment of divine knowledge James 1. 5. If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men plenteously and upbraideth not and it shall be given him I have thus far insisted on some particular duties each of which singly considered hath a very great efficacy to enable us to understand those truths which are revealed in the Gospel and to make us capable of satisfaction concerning them From whence the inference will be easie and obvious that if the practice of each of these be very useful and beneficial to us in our search after knowledge then surely where these are all united they cannot ordinarily fail of their desired effect But yet we are to consider further That the condition which our Saviour here requires is not compleated in our observance of those particular duties above-mentioned but in an universal and impartial obedience to the Will of God as far as it is already known to us and in a sincere resolution to obey him in all further revelations of his Will which upon perusal of the Gospel we shall find to be our duty And a man thus qualified besides the natural efficacy of Vertue to make him fit for receiving the Gospel hath moreover a peculiar promise of the divine blessing and assistance to enlighten his mind and to guide him into all necessary truth And this is the second account upon which we may be assured of the truth of our Saviours proposition If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self God who would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth will not be wanting to any who seek for truth with a sincere resolution to submit to it especially to those who have already exercised themselves in doing his will according to their knowledge he will not fail to afford such further means of instruction as is necessary for them according to what our Saviour saith in the parable of the Talents Mat. xxv 29. Vnto every man that hath that is who maketh a due use of what he hath to him shall be given and he shall have abundance Every one who sincerely endeavours to live up to that measure of knowledge he hath God will give to him such further degrees of knowledge as shall be suitable and necessary for him and of this we have a great signal example in Cornelius the good Centurion Acts 10. whose Prayers and Alms while he was a stranger to Christs Religion were so far accepted by God that he was pleased miraculously to direct him to Peter for further instruction what he ought to do Now although we are not to expect that all sincere Enquirers after Truth shall be thus miraculously instructed as Cornelius was yet God hath given us abundant assurance that no such person shall miscarry for want of necessary knowledge For to this end God hath given his Holy
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus The Judgment therefore here and elsewhere so frequently forbidden cannot be meant of the Judgment of authority in matter either Civil or Ecclesiastical 2. Neither are we forbidden all kind of judgment of the persons of men from their outward and visible practices though we have no superiority over them we are still allowed the judgment of discretion to distinguish between man and man to know whom to avoid and whom to associate our selves with and it is a great part of Christian prudence so to do The actions of many men are so plain and notorious that they are not capable of a mild and easie interpretation and should we stay till publick authority had set a mark upon such persons before we provide for our own innocence and security by forsaking their acquaintance and conversation we may in time grow partakers in their iniquity and be defiled by them Bad Company and Example do insensibly prevail upon our minds and betray us into evil and unless we were allowed to make a judgment of some persons from the actions we see we could have no reason to stand upon our guard or beware of them Nay further Christian Charity it self which obligeth us against all rash and malicious censures of other men doth in many cases not onely allow but exact of us to make a judgment of and be jealous over them that we be able to afford to them seasonable reproof and admonition before they are confirmed in a habit of sin And to this kind of Judgment if it be exercised with true charity and moderation out of a zealous concern for the soul of our offending Brother there is a reward annexed S. James v. 19. Brethren if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him let him know that he that converteth a sinner from the evil of his way shall save a soul from death and hide a multitude of sins Now we should be excluded both from this duty and blessing if it were not Iawful to judge of men in some measure by what we hear and see 3. We are not forbidden to judge and pass censure upon our selves For this is elsewhere made our duty and prescribed to us as a great means to escape the Judgment of God For this S. Paul tells us 1 Cor. xi 31. If we would judge our selves we should not be judged And the reason is plain For would men find leisure seriously to examine their own lives and actions and to judge impartially of them they would not then so freely indulge themselves in those practices to which they know the judgement of God is due They would think themselves obliged in all times and places to a more strict and circumspect walking with God and when they have through inadvertency and neglect yielded to temptation by a due examination and judging of themselves they would be convinced of the necessity of an hearty and sincere repentance before they go hence and be no more seen The power of Conscience was given us by God for that end that we might be enabled to judge of the good and evil of our actions and be thereby more vigorously engaged to continue in well-doing and eschew evil upon a prospect of a future and more dreadful judgment that would otherwise ensue When therefore S. Paul tells us verse 3. that he judged not his own self This is not to be understood as though he made no judgment at all of his own life and actions and particularly of his discharge of his Apostolick Office mentioned in the former Verses but that he was not finally to rely upon his own judgment but that although he knew nothing of himself as he declares Verse 4. yet he was not thereby justified in as much as he was afterward to be judged by the supreme Judge of all the Earth who knew better how he had behaved himself and would judge more impartially than he himself could and then immediately subjoins the prohibition of the Text Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come These things therefore being excepted from the general prohibition the sin which is here forbidden is the uncharitable practice of censuring and condemning other men without any probable or just grounds when men take occasion from little circumstances and appearances to judge the person of their Neighbour and the inward thoughts and inclinations of his heart When they take up an ill opinion of him from every idle report and stick not to spread and divulge the same to his prejudice When they take all occasions to lessen and detract from the good he doth and aggravate the evil This unchristian practice is capable of many degrees and aggravations which I shall not insist on particularly I shall onely take notice in general that whoever will consider calmly with himself how he would have his Neighbour deal with him in the like matter with what candour and simplicity he would have him judge of the outward circumstances of his life how loth he would be to have the worst interpretation made of all his words and actions and how willing he would have others be to admit his excuses if not to take away yet at least to lessen and alleviate the guilt of any miscarriages such a one cannot but understand what those degrees of uncharitable judgment are which are here forbidden I proceed therefore to the second thing propounded to shew the great unreasonableness of this practice and this will appear from these three considerations 1. From the baseness of its original 2. From the greatness of the injury done to the person we censure unjustly 3. From the mischief which redounds to the Publick by uncharitable judgment of one another 1. For the original of this practice of censuring and reviling one another I think it may ordinarily be resolved into one of these three Principles 1. Secret pride and over-valuing our selves Men who are destitute of real worth and yet have a mighty opinion of themselves have no other means to buoy up themselves in that conceit but to pick faults in the life and actions of other men And this I doubt is the humour of too many pretenders to the strictness of Religion who if they declare a great abhorrence of some particular fault of their Neighbours which is contrary to their own natural inclination or present interest are apt vainly to please themselves with the opinion of their own righteousness and to vaunt it in the language of the Pharisee Luke xviii 10. God I thank thee that I am not as other men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers or even as this Publican Now the unreasonable folly of this method of proceeding no man can be ignorant of that considers the nature and genius of true Religion that it doth not consist in the abstinence from some particular sins which I may apprehend others to be guilty of but in an universal obedience to all the commands of God And therefore what
against us are very many yet ours against God are vastly more numerous if not rather without number Who can tell how oft he offendeth was holy Davids question and it plainly implies that no man can tell For his own part though he was the man after Gods own heart yet he fairly acknowledges that his sins were more in number than the hairs of his head and what then must we think of our selves who come far short of his piety and integrity Again are our Neighbours sins against us very hainous and provoking Ours against God are infinitely more so And that upon these two accounts the infinite distance between God and us the mighty obligations we have received from God And these are such aggravations of our sins against God as our Neighbours offences against our selves are not capable of For as for men they are all but fellow-creatures and though there is order and superiority amongst them yet the distance bears no proportion with the infinite and incomprehensible Majesty whereby God is exalted above the Sons of men If we also compare the Benefits we receive from God with what we confer upon one another even those also bear no resemblance and therefore cannot aggravate our Neighbours trespasses against us in any proportion with our offences against God Let us then consider with our selves that if our sins against God both for the number and aggravation of them are infinitely greater than the greatest of our Neighbours injuries can be how unreasonably we demean our selves if we pray to God for pardon of our sins while we deny forgiveness to our Brother for the lesser offences we have suffered at his hands Do ye as ye would be done by is the common rule of equity Would you therefore that God should shew mercy to you be ye also merciful to your fellow-creatures This is the greatest equity and reason in the World and God will certainly deal with us according to that rule So our Saviour tells us S. Matt. vi 14 15. If ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly father forgive your trespasses And elsewhere we are assured that he shall have judgment without mercy who hath shewed no mercy And now I would beseech James 11. 13. the malicious and revengeful man if he be capable of being calm to consider with himself whether he be able to bear those everlasting pains which are reserved for those to whom God refuseth to shew mercy if he cannot let him consider further whether it be not his greatest interest to agree with his adversary quickly while he is in the way with him to seek reconciliation with him to forgive him pray for him and do him good that he also may be capable of that mercy from God which is not attainable by us unless we from our hearts forgive every man his Brother their trespasses I shall conclude all with the excellent sayings of the son of Syrach Ecclus. 28. 1. He that revengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord and he will surely keep his sins in remembrance Forgive thy Neighbour the hurt that he hath done thee so shall thy sins also be forgiven thee when thou prayest One man beareth hatred against another and doth he seek pardon from the Lord he sheweth no mercy to a man like himself and doth he ask forgiveness of his own sins If he that is but flesh nourish hatred who shall intreat for pardon of his sins SERM. II. 1 Cor. iv part of the 5. verse Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come THe belief of our Saviours second coming as it hath a general influence upon all the parts of a Christian conversation so more peculiarly doth it serve to dissuade us from that uncharitable temper so prevailing among men of Judging and Censuring the rest of our Brethren and is frequently insisted on by our Saviour and his Apostles as a most effectual and cogent argument against it For the better enforcement therefore of this prohibition so frequent in the Gospel I shall enquire 1. What that Judgment is that is here so universally forbidden 2. The particular force of the Argument here used to dissuade us from it Because the Lord cometh 3. I shall shew the great unreasonableness of it For the first of these it is easie to understand that the Judgment here spoken of is not meant of Judicial proceedings either in matters Civil or Ecclesiastical and this if from no other Argument may appear from the necessity of a Judicial power to the well-being and support of humane society For that Civil Society cannot subsist in peace and tranquility without sufficient authority residing in some persons above others to determine controversies between man and man and to execute punishment upon those that offer violence to their neighbours is too plain to be insisted on For that bad men are vastly more numerous than good and that such who have no sense of vertue and goodness are no other way to be restrained from evil but by the severity of wholsom Laws and the due execution of them and that this cannot be without judicial authority every mans experience may convince him If therefore we consider that God is not the Author of Confusion but of Order and that he designed man for society and mutual support of each other in it we cannot persuade our selves that any precept of the Gospel can tend to the subversion of it which the taking away Judicial proceedings would certainly do Nay rather since Order and Government is so necessary to our Well-being we may well conclude that it is derived from God and from him alone And agreeably to this the Civil Magistrate is stiled by our Apostle the Minister of God a Revenger to execute wrath Rom. xiii 4 5. upon him that doth evil And we are therefore required to yield obedience to them not onely for wrath but also for conscience sake Neither is the necessity of a Judicial power less evident in matters Ecclesiastical than in Civil nor is the danger of Confusion and Disorder greater in the State than in the Church Therefore when our Saviour sent forth his Disciples to gather to him a Church and make Disciples of all Nations he intrusted them with the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven with the power of censuring and absolving of remitting and retaining sins agreeable to the demerits of persons under their jurisdiction and in obedience to this Commission the Scripture gives us several instances of the use and exercise of this power By this authority S. Paul did deliver Hymenaeus and Alexander unto Satan that they might learn to blaspheme as we read 1 Tim. i. 20. and in the 5. chapter of this Epistle verse 5. he gives directions to the Church of Corinth to use the same power over such persons as were notorious to deliver such unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit
our security and men are naturally inclined to assist and succour the weak against the violence of an oppressor but the tongue of the malicious and censorious woundeth in secret and it is hard to know from whence our harm ariseth A slanderous report spreads widely and insensibly nor can a man be able to trace out the beginnings or stop the progress of it Nay many times the slander is improved beyond the intentions of him that devised it If but a bare suspicion be put in the minds of the giddy and credulous multitude how easily doth it gain credit as true and then suddenly a thousand circumstances are added to aggravate the guilt so that it is not in the power of the greatest wisdom or vertue to resist wholly or stop the progress of a false accusation 2. The greatness of this injury will appear yet more manifestly in that we cannot make sufficient reparation for it He that hath been the Author of a false report though he should afterwards repent and be sorry for it though he should ask forgiveness of the person injured and take all occasions for the future to wipe off all suspicions which himself had raised yet after all is done much of the report will be believed whether he will or not It may be spread through many places wherein after-confession cannot reach and even then men are apter to believe the bad report than the good Men will not lay aside a prejudice once entertained without greater evidence to the contrary than what caused it at first and such evidence it will be hard to give to all persons who have believed a slander A malicious censure may meet with many persons who may think it their interest to continue the belief of it though the first inventor should repent So that when once an uncharitable judgment is made and divulged I cannot see how it can be in the power of him that did it to stop the belief or spreading of it or to make reparation 3. A further aggravation of this sin is that no kind of injury doth more afflict the spirit of a man or make a deeper impression than a false and uncharitable judgment of him Every man hath naturally a great reverence for a good name and agreeably to his value of it cannot but highly resent to be deprived of it by a false and unjust accusation And therefore Solomon compares the words of a slanderer and back-biter to the piercing of a sword Prov. xi 18. And holy David tells us that swords are in their lips Psal lix 7. Neither is it without good reason that men are thus tender of their reputation and good name in as much as it is one of the great instruments whereby men are enabled to do good in the World and to be disabled from that is one of the most just occasions of grief and dissatisfaction A man who out of conscience towards God makes it his sincere endeavour to do what good he can in the place and station to which God hath called him cannot but be deeply affected with such an injury as makes his endeavours ineffectual for that end and though he may be so charitable as to forgive yet it cannot but cause a great unquietness of spirit in a good man which cannot easily be attoned for But this is not a private injury onely but hath very great and malignant influence upon the society in which we live Which brings me to the third consideration proposed to shew the great unreasonableness of uncharitable judging of one another namely the bad effects which redound from this practice to the Publick 1. The first of those bad effects which I shall insist on is that which I just now mentioned that it renders particular persons less able to do good in their several places and callings than otherwise they might be And this must needs be a great injury to the Publick proportiotionably to the several abilities and degrees of the persons so dealt with Now that slanderous reports and false judgments spread concerning the persons of any men do tend much to hinder the good they might do otherwise I shall endeavour to prove by instancing in two sorts of men whose ability to do good doth in great measure depend upon the reverence and esteem of their persons which must consequently be much lessened by malicious and uncharitable censures of them and even by the undue mention of faults that are true and real but yet are no mans business to enquire into or accuse them for The persons I mean are publick Ministers either in the Church or State For the latter of these it is a thing of common experience that the great strength and security of any Nation consists in the unity and good correspondence between the several parts of it when those that govern apply themselves zealously for the good of the Community and when Subjects on the other hand are hearty and sincere in their obedience to those that rule over them Now it must needs be granted that nothing more effectually engages the obedience and affection of Subjects to their Soveraign and Ministers imployed by him than a firm belief of their wisdom and integrity in the management of their respective imployments Whoever therefore makes it their design as many busie-bodies are apt to do to mis-represent all the proceedings of their Governours that suit not with their present humour and understanding and to rip up and aggravate those private faults of such persons which concern them not such persons I say cannot but be thought highly injurious to the Publick by abating the reverence and esteem which is justly due and of great use to superiours in the execution of the great trust committed to them But in the name of God what do men of this temper propose to themselves Do they think their Governours are not men of Passion and Infirmities as well as others Do they not know that the imployments they are ingaged in are of more variety and difficulty than can be managed with so exact evenness but there will be still some inconveniences unavoidable How is it that they do not observe that even then when they complain of and censure the persons and actions of their Governours they do in a great measure contribute to and increase the inconveniences they suffer For it is vain to imagine that inconveniences of any Government arise wholly or chiefly from the faults and miscarriages of men in authority but in great part from the perverse and ungovernable tempers of some men who study to be unquiet and for that reason stick not to declaim zealously against all the actions of their superiours which they think capable of blame 2. The second sort of persons whose abilities to do good depend much upon the reverence and esteem of their persons are the Ministers of the Church Now the business of these men being of so great importance as the salvation of the immortal spirits of men whoever hinders the success of
their endeavours in that affair may justly be esteemed a common enemy to mankind Now I do not understand any way whereby men do more directly undermine the Authority of our holy Faith and hinder the enlargement of it than by defaming the persons to whom the delivery of the Sacred Oracles and the Ministry of Reconciliation is intrusted For though it be a very unsafe and unreasonable way of arguing for any man to disbelieve the truth of Christian Religion and to neglect the practice of it because this or that particular man in Holy Orders is unfaithful to his own soul and lives not up to the purity and perfection which he preacheth to others yet certainly it is an argument which doth extremely prevail in the World and is equally dangerous whether it be grounded on the real or but supposed faults of men whose Office it is to instruct or persuade others to the practice of holiness For to him who believes a false report of his spiritual Guide the occasion of Scandal is as effectual as though the report were true and the censure just and then who can persuade himself that the man who raised the false accusation is not as injurious to the Church as the man whose life is really scandalous What hath been said of the ill effect that redounds to the Publick from the uncharitable censurings of men of this publick capacity will in proportion hold concerning the rash judgments we make of private persons according to the several degrees wherein they may be useful either in the Church or Commonwealth 2. I proceed to a second instance of the ill effects which redound to the publick by our uncharitable judging one another namely that our rash and censorious practice towards others provokes the like usage from them towards our selves and thence arises those many feuds and animosities mutual revilings and bitter envyings so visible among men of all conditions and a feud thus begun commonly spreads it self and all our friends and correspondents are soon made partners in the quarrel and how hard it is to lay aside or allay those animosities which have been thus begun every mans experience may convince him Now I need not use any arguments to shew that divisions and animosities among men are of very dangerous consequence to the publick Society where they live it being a truth attested by the common consent of Mankind and by the experience of all Ages so that we must needs conclude that whatever practices tend to the begetting and increase of strife and contention are very hurtful to the Publick Nor do I know any practice that doth more effectually tend that way than this of uncharitable judging and censuring other men How much the greater the end and design of any Society is so much more dangerous and hurtful those practices are to be esteemed which cause divisions in it The Church of God therefore being a Society whose happiness is not terminated in the temporal peace and tranquillity of this life we must needs conclude that those uncharitable censures which cause divisions among Christians receive from hence a mighty aggravation in that they do not onely hinder their present peace and tranquillity but endanger their falling short of that eternal salvation which is promised to none that do not follow after peace and holiness And from this consideration that we are all members of the Church of Christ I cannot but add a third ill effect which this uncharitable practice of judging and censuring one another brings to the Publick 3. Viz. That it brings reproach upon our Christian Profession and upon that Holy Name whereby we are called For suppose a Jew or a Pagan should peruse the writings of the holy Evangelists and Apostles and should read there the many precepts which require of us the greatest degree of meekness and humility in our opinions and judgments of other men should they read S. Pauls description of Christian Charity that it thinketh no evil that it believeth all things and hopeth all things did they consider the many arguments the Gospel uses to enforce the duty and great reward undispensably depending upon our practice and lastly the example of our Saviour himself who in his conversation among men was the greatest enemy to all uncharitable judgment of others but did himself exercise the greatest candor towards all men scarce ever passing a severe censure upon any but that proud censorious Sect of the Pharisees who made themselves judges of all others should they then descend to compare the practice of Christians with that excellent rule they pretend to and with the example of their Lord and Saviour and see how vast the disproportion is between our Practice and Profession they would easily persuade themselves that the generality of Christians did not seriously believe the Doctrine they vaunt of nor own the authority of their Saviour in giving Laws for the Government of their lives nor expect the accomplishment of those things which he hath foretold They will find it very hard to reconcile how the belief of those things can consist with many uncharitable practices unjust reproaches and mutual enmities which the profest Disciples of the blessed Jesus are so easily tempted to Thus besides the injury we do to particular persons and to the publick Society whereof we should be feeling members we cast a stumbling block in the way of those who might be won over to our most holy Profession did they not see the Professors of it so manifestly contradict in their lives and practices what they plead for with so much zeal and affection I proceed to the third thing propounded to shew the particular force of the argument here used to dissuade from uncharitable judging one another Because the Lord cometh And this will appear 1. From the consideration of his infinite knowledge if compared with our great inability to judge aright This branch of the argument is particularly urged by our Apostle in the words following my Text Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden works and will make manifest the counsels of the heart and then shall every man have praise of God The good and evil of what men do cannot be determined barely from outward appearances which onely are exposed to the knowledge of men Many actions may proceed from an heart truly pious and devout which may be acceptable to God that knows the heart which yet as to men may be liable to suspicion and mistake On the other side the outward actions of hypocrites may appear to men as instances of great piety and devotion when to God they are an abomination Now should we use the utmost of our discretion in these cases we could have no sufficient ground to judge rightly of these men or their actions So many are the secret windings and private retirements of the heart of man so various his thoughts and intentions and so numerous his pretences to disguise his actions that it